Thread by @MarkJGolding

The next @JamaicaPNP Administration will prioritize and make significant investments in early childhood development and primary school education, including teacher training. #BudgetDebate2022

We must ensure that all Jamaican children achieve age-appropriate levels of literacy, numeracy and critical thinking by the end of Grade 6. #BudgetDebate2022

Adequate provision must also be made for children with special needs.
Former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller often told us - “start them right make them bright”.
#BudgetDebate2022

There is no better way of utilizing resources than investing in our people, and our children in particular, so that they can achieve their full potential and fulfill the Jamaican Dream.
Education is the engine that will power the Jamaican Dream. #PowerInTheDream

Tertiary education should be more accessible, especially for young people from low income families.
#BudgetDebate2022

The State, and not the student, should bear the risk of employment creation. Students should not have to fear borrowing to fund their education. We must make changes to the Student Loan Bureau (SLB) to make funding for tertiary education more accessible and attractive.

The next PNP Government will help our students to “step up ina life”, and participate in the Jamaican Dream.
#PowerInTheDream #BudgetDebate2022

We will reconfigure the loan structure used by the SLB. We will cap monthly payments at a reasonable percentage, not more than 15%, of the borrower’s actual income. We must ensure that student loan payments are manageable for young graduates.
#BudgetDebate2022

The Minister of Finance announced last year that only one guarantor will be required by the SLB, going forward. That was a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough.
#BudgetDebate2022

Many students from low-income homes cannot find an acceptable guarantor, so that this requirement effectively excludes them.
#BudgetDebate2022

When the Public Accounts Committee last looked at the SLB, it found that the amounts recovered from guarantors are in fact quite small in the scheme of things. #BudgetDebate2022

This tells us that the retention of the requirement for a guarantor is not necessary for the sustainability of the institution.
The next PNP Government will abolish altogether the requirement of finding a guarantor to access student loans.
#BudgetDebate2022

Many students have been hit hard by the pandemic. I am proposing a “Fresh Start” programme, where the SLB forgives say $7.5 Billion in students’ accrued loan interest and penalties.
#BudgetDebate2022

This would cost the SLB nothing additional, as these amounts have already been provided for over the last 5 years in the SLB’s annual income statements. #BudgetDebate2022

A “Fresh Start” would remove any bad credit rating from these students. It would give them a chance to build a better future as they step forward in their adult lives.
#BudgetDebate2022

This is a pragmatic and humane approach. Many of our young people are anxious to get a university education, earn a degree and improve their prospects. #BudgetDebate2022

They borrowed student loans, and agreed to loan repayments, that have just been beyond their capacity to pay, even with the best will in the world. Many have now given up and accepted their lot.
#BudgetDebate2022

Even for commercial lenders, it is usually better to work with a borrower and rehabilitate them, rather than take a hard line which causes them to throw up their hands.
#BudgetDebate2022

Let us give students a chance to build their careers, without the mental stress and financial pressure from their SLB borrowings.
#BudgetDebate2022